With younger generations increasingly adept at technology, classrooms are adopting a tech-driven approach to teaching. Interestingly, what we see in response is the same as what we see in the workplace: a push toward BYOD, or Bring Your Own Device.

And as it turns out, students’ preferences for using their own devices over available library or computer lab resources carries over to their professional lives, as well. According to a recent Cisco study, “Two of five […] would accept a lower-paying job that had more flexibility with regard to device choice, social media access, and mobility, than a higher-paying job with less flexibility.”

Recently, I came across this amazing relic of ancient times that’s on display at the Getty Museum in LA – a Greek marble relief that dates back to 100 BC. It’s like the IT department has presented her with a laptop still running Windows 2000 and she’s thinking to herself, “What have I gotten myself into?” Could it be one of the first sources of inspiration for Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), found in a carving thousands of years old? Judging from this, it looks like people have wanted to bring their own devices to work for a lot longer than we might have previously thought!

Cisco announced today a study showing benefits, as well as complexities, relating to employees bringing their own devices (BYOD) to work. A colleague of mine forwarded this cartoon to me last week which I thought was quite amusing. It gave me all kinds of thoughts about my upcoming doctor’s visit.

Cisco is enabling BYOD by driving innovation through Unified Workspace, everything that makes workers efficient and productive moves along with them. Cisco is also offering three Smart Solutions, the BYOD, VXI and Remote Expert, all designed to help service provider and enterprises develop a scalable approach to their mobility initiatives while optimizing user experience and ensuring data security. Read More »

By 2014, the average number of connected devices per knowledge worker is expected to reach 3.3, according to the Cisco IBSG Horizons Study released today. And a whopping 95 percent of respondents permit employee-owned devices in some way in the workplace.

Plus, more than three-fourths of IT leaders consider BYOD a gateway to greater business benefits, including increased productivity and greater job satisfaction. So there’s no doubt about it: Work is fast becoming an activity, not a location.

But what does this mean for partners? Opportunity, of course. You’re in the enviable position to leverage Cisco’s new “Your Way” Smart Solutions to provide customers with a holistic approach to BYOD in the workplaces. These solutions are completely scalable, and also address mobility, security, virtualization, and network policy management.

The benefit to your customers, you ask? Cisco IBSG estimates that the annual savings from BYOD range from $300 to $1,300 per employee. Now that can really start to add up!

Some of the individuals posting to this site, including the moderators, work for Cisco Systems. Opinions expressed here and in any corresponding comments are the personal opinions of the original authors, not of Cisco. The content is provided for informational purposes only and is not meant to be an endorsement or representation by Cisco or any other party. This site is available to the public. No information you consider confidential should be posted to this site. By posting you agree to be solely responsible for the content of all information you contribute, link to, or otherwise upload to the Website and release Cisco from any liability related to your use of the Website. You also grant to Cisco a worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free and fully-paid, transferable (including rights to sublicense) right to exercise all copyright, publicity, and moral rights with respect to any original content you provide. The comments are moderated. Comments will appear as soon as they are approved by the moderator.